Why and How Did Safetravels196 Come to be in France
After six months of travelling and house sitting in New Zealand, we had itchy feet. We would often talk about how cool it would be exploring traditional France “la France profonde”.
La France profonde symbolises those profoundly French aspects of the culture in provincial towns and small villages. After months of discussion and dreaming, we knew what our next adventure needed to be — a voyage of discovery exploring traditional France far removed from the usual hotspots.
Then out of the blue, we received a message in our Twitter inbox. Would we consider spending six weeks of spring 2019 in a small village in France? In return, would we care for a “highly strung and anxious” pup so that his parents could travel?
One of our Twitter followers had read our article on Separation Anxiety in Pets while Housesitting. They had an anxious wee pup and thought we would be the perfect carers for him while they travelled.
It took us a nanosecond to consider, and our proverbial itch was scratched.
Here was our opportunity to explore “la France profonde”. At that very moment, we conceived “Letters From France” where we’ll recount our adventures in this beautiful country.
Planning Exploring Traditional France “la France Profonde.”
France was always on the long list of places we would like to explore more. We had done the romantic weekend in Paris but knew there was more to this famous and romantic country that we needed to see.
And so it was that we made a plan with a consciousness to explore more traditional France, “la France profonde”. The smaller cities, towns and tiny villages held a distinct appeal. Consequently, by the time we were Northern hemisphere bound, we had confirmed several housesits in small villages in the south of France.
Exploring those destinations less travelled is one way we make a positive contribution to reducing over-tourism. We aim to travel off-season and spread our tourist dollars to the communities where we stay. We arrived in France in early February, the off-season, so it was perfect timing.
We planned to explore small towns and villages in and around our accommodations. Places not necessarily listed on tourism websites or any of the major tourist routes. These traditional French locations would provide for our love of history, local markets, architecture, traditional pavement cafes. And, just local French country life.
France a Tourist Destination Leader
The retention of France’s standing in the world as a tourist destination leader is partly attributable to an upsurge in visitors from Asia. Most markedly from Japan, India and China.
Over-tourism has become a bit of a buzzword globally in recent years. However, it does present the world with a genuine and evolving dilemma. This dilemma can be seen in major cities such as Paris, NYC, Rome, London and Venice, to name a few. More recently we are seeing smaller locations such as Croatia suffering too. In Dubrovnik tourism has increased at such a colossal rate that its infrastructure cannot cope.
There isn’t any easy solution to this issue and just saying ‘stop travelling’ is certainly not one of them. The impacts of over-tourism vary in different locations. Hence, the solutions and suggestions to mitigate the consequences are also wide and varied.
Consequently, we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that tourism does provide many benefits to communities when we all travel. Spreading the tourism dollars to the regions of traditional France can only alleviate the pressures on the country’s hotspots.
Travelling Slowly by Alternative Means
The “responsible traveller” ethos, has never been more crucial to our travels since deciding to explore more. Traditional France.
Even given its recent troubles with tourist attacks, and the impact of the “Mouvement des gilets jaunes” or the “yellow vests”, France is still the most popular tourist destination in the world. Projections estimate that 2019 will see over 90 million foreign visitors land on its shores to explore the many delights of this romantic country.
We wanted to travel slowly around France and the European continent, utilising public transport as much as possible to reduce our environmental impact. We had started our slow travels journey in Australia and were keen to continue.
However, the reality of this plan was far from the dream. The sheer complexity of arranging train travel from the UK to Toulouse in France was just too high. Our journey would have looked something like this — Wells to Bristol, Bristol to London St Pancras, St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nore, Paris Gare du Nore to Toulouse. This journey would have taken us the best part of three days and hundreds of pounds.
We have to be sensible about our time and finances so consequently we decided to fly. After an overnight stay at The Village Hotel Bristol, we flew EasyJet directly to Toulouse. The two-hour flight, even with the overnight stay was much more time and cost-efficient method of travel from the UK to France than a train.
It is still our intention to find ways to travel more slowly and responsibly where possible, as we begin exploring la France profonde.
Letters From France — Toulouse La Ville Rose
Our very first article in an intended series of “Letters from France” will be Toulouse, La Ville Rose or Pink City. A beautiful, romantic city steeped in history and filled with all the things we love. Architecture, art, food, wine and history.
